A Bevvy of Awards & a retired basketball jersey

The College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to celebrate awards and honors that faculty, staff, students, and alumni have received over the past few months for their research, leadership, and other accomplishments.

• Kelsey Plum's #10 Basketball Jersey Retired
• National Academy of Science Honors Xu and Vinzant
• Zhao Receives NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award
• Big Honors for Biochemistry Students
• PECASE Award for Wilson
• Xiao Receives Sloan Research Fellows Award
• Matthew Yankowitz Receives NSF CAREER Award
• Major Award to Study Pollution's Effect on Pollinators
• Sustaining Grants in the Arts
• Other Awards and Honors
  

In a celebration of legacy, achievement, and undeniable impact, the UW Department of Athletics retired the iconic #10 jersey of UW alumna and Husky women's basketball legend Kelsey Plum during a ceremony on January 18, 2025. Plum, who graduated from the Department of Anthropology in 2017, became the first women's basketball player in UW history to have a jersey retired.

"I'm forever proud to be a Husky and UW is a special place that fundamentally shaped me both as a basketball player and as a person," Plum said. "It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends. and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up at the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I've admired for so long."

At Washington, Plum became the all-time NCAA scoring leader and broke many other records, including the 33-year-old NCAA career free throw record, the single-season NCAA scoring record, and the Pac-12 single-game scoring record. She was the number one pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft and the first number one overall pick in Washington basketball history. She went on to became a two-time WNBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and one of the most decorated athletes in women's basketball.

The jersey retirement celebrates a career that continues to shine, immortalizing Plum’s achievements as part of Husky history forever.

Arts & Sciences faculty Xiaodong Xu and Cynthia Vinzant have been honored by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their research accomplishments.

Xiaodong Xu, professor of physics and of material sciences and engineering (in the College of Engineering), was awarded the NAS Award for Scientific Discovery. The award recognizes an accomplishment or discovery in basic research that is expected to have a significant impact on astronomy, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, materials science, or physics.

Xu’s research explores new quantum phenomena in layered two-dimensional materials and engineered quantum systems. NAS recognized Xu for groundbreaking experimental observation of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect, a discovery that marks a major breakthrough towards the realization of topological quantum bits (qubits). This discovery is a crucial step toward achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing, an advancement that could revolutionize every aspect of our society.

Cynthia Vinzant, associate professor of mathematics, was awarded the Michael and Sheila Held Prize for work that explores algorithms for sampling from large spaces of combinatorial objects, such as minimal connections in a network. She splits the prize with Shayan Oveis Gharan, professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, Nima Anari (Stanford), and Kuikui Liu (MIT).

Daniel Pollack, divisional dean of natural sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, is pleased to see NAS recognize UW faculty for work at the forefront of research in the mathematical and physical sciences. “Their work, in resolving long outstanding conjectures and experimentally discovering new physical phenomena, represents the best aspects of fundamental science research conducted at this university,” Pollack says.

Christina Zhao, research assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) has been honored with a NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award, which recognizes early career researchers who ask bold, fundamental questions. The award is open to all scientists internationally whose research is at the intersection of the social and life sciences.

One grand prize and two finalists are named; Zhao was a finalist. All three receive cash prizes and have their prize-winning essays published in Science. Zhao’s essay, which focuses on the effects of music on the brain, was published in Science's November 8 issue.

In the essay, Zhao describes her research, which suggests that participating in music activities may have a positive effect on infants’ brain development and language learning. Then she writes, “Music programs in school districts across the country are in danger of funding cuts and, as our research shows, our youngest children are missing out on quality musical experience at home that could be highly beneficial toward their development. …It has become my goal to create more interactive, engaging musical experiences for young children and their families.”

February was a big month for the UW’s biochemistry program in the Department of Chemistry, as undergraduate biochemistry majors earned multiple accolades for their accomplishments.

Tristan Jafari, a departmental Honors student set to graduate a year early this June, won a Gates Cambridge Scholarship — Cambridge University’s equivalent of Oxford's Rhodes Scholarship. The scholarship covers the full cost to pursue a postgraduate degree at Cambridge. Alongside this remarkable achievement, Jafari has earned the UW Class of 1962 Endowed Scholarship, the UW Chemistry Scholarship, the Martin and Anne Jugum Scholarship in Labor Studies, and the Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship twice.  Jafari, who works as an emergency medical technician (EMT), used his  Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship to help found and lead UW Emergency Medical Services, a student initiative to enhance the emergency medical response system on the UW Seattle campus.

Biochemistry also had a clean sweep for the UW’s prestigious President’s Medalist Award. All three 2023-24 honorees — Samuel Perkowski, Mia Grayson and Cher Zhang — are biochemistry majors. The recipients were selected from the thousands of undergraduate students at the University for their high GPAs, rigor of classes, and number of Honors courses. Beyond the classroom, they are active and engaged in the Husky Experience in a variety of ways, from working in labs to performing music and studying abroad. 

Learn more about Gates Cambridge Scholar Tristan Jafari and the UW President’s Medalist Award recipients.

Bobby Wilson, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and John Rainwater Faculty Fellow, received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the US government to recognize outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

Wilson is a leading researcher in harmonic analysis, dispersive PDE, and geometric measure theory. Harmonic analysis is a mathematical procedure for describing and analyzing phenomena of a periodically recurrent nature, such as sound waves, electric currents, and tides.

The PECASE award recognizes innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, expands awareness of careers in science and engineering, recognizes the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhances connections between research and impacts on society, and highlights the importance of science and technology for our nation’s future.

Dianne J. Xiao, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Klaus and Mary Ann Saegebarth Endowed Faculty Fellow, has been awarded an early-career fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which honors researchers whose achievements mark them among the next generation of scientific leaders. 

Xiao’s research focus is designing new porous materials to address unsolved challenges in clean energy and chemical sustainability. These include developing new porous adsorbents that can use renewable electricity to drive chemical processes, as well as new porous catalysts that can convert sustainable feedstocks into useful products. 

“Many of the chemicals we use in our daily lives have, at some point, been purified or chemically transformed within nano-sized pores,” Xiao said. “Going forward, new breakthroughs in porous materials synthesis are needed to harness renewable energy sources and chemical feedstocks. With the support of this award, along with the collaborative ecosystem at the UW, we hope to realize these synthetic breakthroughs faster, better, and more cheaply.” 

Two faculty from other UW colleges  join Xiao as Sloan Fellows: Amy L. Orsborn, Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of electrical & computer engineering and bioengineering, and Amy X. Zhang, assistant professor of computer science in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.  Each fellow receives $75,000 to apply toward research endeavors. 

Matthew Yankowitz, assistant professor of physics in the College of Arts & Sciences and of materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering, has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the most prestigious award given by the NSF in support of junior faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent teaching, and the integration of education and research. The five-year award will provide $650,000 of funding to support Yankowitz’s research.

Yankowitz and his group plan to explore the exotic behavior of electrons in two-dimensional materials that are stacked atop one another and rotated slightly. This small twist creates a geometric interference pattern known as a “moiré pattern,” akin to that seen in overlapping lace drapes.

‘The moiré pattern allows us to create and study new quantum mechanical properties in these materials that wouldn’t exist otherwise,” Yankowitz explains. “The primary focus of our study will be to look for new topological states of matter, in which electrons are able to circulate around the edge of the material but cannot travel through its bulk.” 

The award will also allow Yankowitz to engage members of the Seattle community in the research, including hands-on summer outreach activities for high school students.

Using their finely tuned ability to sniff out floral chemical compounds wafting through the air, pollinators are able to home in on plants of interest for their next meal. Recently, UW researchers secured funding to better understand how pollutants in the atmosphere impact pollinators’ sense of smell.

The $900,000 award — from a collaboration between the Kavli Foundation and the National Science Foundation — will fund work by Jeff Riffell,  professor of biology in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), and Joel Thornton, professor of atmospheric and climate science in the College of the Environment and adjunct professor of chemistry in CAS. 

Pollutants like nitrates and ozone are known to degrade floral traits such as smells. The team will focus on how this pollution may affect both daytime pollinators, like honeybees, and nocturnal pollinating moths, whose abilities to locate flowers may be disrupted. About three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and one-third of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators for producing fruits, grains and other crops.

“We need to understand both how pollinators biochemically and neurologically sense their environment, as well as how the chemical environments in which they navigate have changed,” says Thornton. “Our two research groups, and the broad array of expertise here at the UW on atmospheric, climate, and ecosystem science, make for a truly unique opportunity to advance understanding in both of these areas.”

Sustaining grant awards from 4Culture, the cultural funding agency for King County, Washington, will benefit several arts units in the College of Arts & Sciences: the Burke Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, and Meany Center for the Performing Arts. The awards for 2025, as well as projections for the following two years, are significant and provide a dramatic increase in funding from 4Culture.

The increase in funding is the result of the “Doors Open” Levy passed by the King County Council in December 2023, which authorized a 0.1% sales tax increase intended to provide funding for arts, science, history, and heritage nonprofits in King County.  In total, more than 700 organizations across King County will benefit from this funding, based on peer review of submitted proposals.

Doors Open is “a long-term investment in King County’s future,” King County councilmember and bill co-sponsor Girmay Zahilay told the Seattle Times. “Through this initiative, we can boost local economies, reduce crime, strengthen our communities, build a thriving arts workforce, and cultivate resilience.”

Cynthia Anderson, academic counselor and director of learning communities in the Department of Comparative History of Ideas, was honored as "Educator of the Game" at a January 2025 UW Men’s Basketball game. The recognition was a way for UW Athletics student support staff and coaches to thank exceptional UW staff and faculty.

Adrian Dobra, professor of statistics, received the 2024 NISS Distinguished Alumni Award from the National Institute of Statistical Science (NISS). The award is intended for former NISS postdocs or research associates who have had distinguished careers. 

Kai-Mei Fu, Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor of Physics and Electrical & Computer Engineering, has been elected a 2024 APS Fellow by the American Physical Society Division of Quantum Information.

Janet Germeraad, the Department of Biology's director of academic services, and Jason Patterson, Biology's senior adviser, were named the UW Association of Professional Advisers and Counselors (APAC) 2024 Advisers of the Year.

David Kaplan, professor of physics, has received the Felice Pietro Chisesi and Caterina Tomassoni Prize in Physics from Sapienza Università di Roma, for the “introduction of the domain wall method for simulating chiral fermions on the lattice and for seminal work on other strongly interacting systems.”

Abby E. Murray, writing lecturer and program manager for the Jackson School of International Studies’ US Army War College Fellowship program, received the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize for her forthcoming second book, Recovery Commands, which looks closely at what it means to be nonviolent in close proximity to the military.

Alexander Paredez and Sharlene Santana, professors of biology, and Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology, were included in the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists. The online atlas is a public resource that highlights and celebrates the many contributions of more than 380 Hispanic and Latinx scientists and serves as a space to build community and create mentorship opportunities.

Jeff Rasmussen, associate professor of biology, and his lab were awarded a prestigious two-year grant from the LEO Foundation to study the mechanisms governing Langerhans cells’ immune response in wound healing, particularly the role of the microtubule cytoskeleton.

David Shields, professor in the Department of English, won the Silicon Beach Film Festival award for best treatment  for "The Jazz Ambassadors," a film treatment based on Louis Armstrong’s and Dizzy Gillespie’s State Department-sponsored tours of West Africa at the height of the Cold War. The project is now in development with an independent film company. Shields’s film "How We Got Here," which is now streaming on Prime, has screened at the Golden Gate, Culver City, and Indie Vegas film festivals.

Kristie Spencer, professor and associate chair of the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences (SPHSC), and SPHSC professor Yi Shen were elected ASHA Fellows by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.  Fellowship is one of the highest forms of recognition given by ASHA.

Billie Swalla, professor emerita of biology, was awarded the Society for Developmental Biology’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding and sustained contributions in the field, exceptional mentoring, and service to the scientific community.

Amanda Lock Swarr, professor of gender, women, and sexuality studies, was award the Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality for the book “Envisioning African Intersex: Challenging Colonial and Racist Legacies in South African Medicine.” The review committee noted that Swarr’s book “exposes the lies that underpin scientific presumptions of so-called ‘hermaphroditism’ and highlights activists’ challenges to their exploitation and articulations of new decolonial visions of gender.”

Daniela Witten, professor of statistics and Dorothy Morrow Gilford Endowed Chair in Mathematical Sciences, was selected by the Royal Statistical Society to serve as joint editor of JRSSB, the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.